As a longtime freelance writer on the web, I sincerely wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve come across the expression: “Content Is King”. I totally understand the concept, and although I have my own take on what really rules, I know how crucial a role content plays in the whole scheme of things. You’d have to be an idiot not to. We’re writers, so obviously what we write about is important (duh?). So “content is king” and I accept that without question, but I’m a card player, and I know that it’s not the king that rules the deck, it’s the Ace (this deck doesn’t have any Jokers). So Content doesn’t really rule. But not only that, if content is king, what’s queen? What is really the deal (no pun intended) with this royal family.

Based on everything that I have experienced, I have determined that if content is king, the title of ruler should go to Google. Those who want to debate this topic, please don’t do so without first reading: Writing Online: “Content Is King, But Google Rules!” (link below) After that, You’re more than welcome to take your digs at me in the “Comments” section of that particular article. (For now, give me a break okay?) .

Aside from being a card player, I also play chess, which leads me to my question: If content is king, then what’s queen? I believe that this is a totally fitting question, considering in the game of chess, the Queen does the main ass kicking. (Excuse my French but it is what it is) It’s a given that the king is the key figure in the game. All the other pieces on the board are solely there to protect the king. They all play a part, but the bulk of the work is left to the queen. That’s probably because she is the only one who can move so diversely across the board. Every other piece has some kind of restrictions on the way they move.

Now that you’ve had this mini chess lesson, you’re probably wondering who it is that I have determined to be the designated Queen. I firmly believe: If content is king, then promotion is queen! I’ll even go so far as to say, self-promotion. I could have just left it at promotion, but if you have any kind of business or you’re trying to generate an income you NEVER leave your promotion solely up to someone else. If you do, you’re in trouble. Even when you get to big for your own britches and can afford to pay someone else to do your promoting. You better damn well continue some type of self-promotion yourself. You should always be your biggest fan!

As you already know, the title of this article is “…If Content Is King, What’s Queen?. We have established (well, I know I have anyway), that Promotion is Queen. Hopefully the information that was discussed in this article made a good case in driving that point home. If we are going to look at this hierarchy in the right way, we need to make sure we help the “royal family” to maintain a good rapport with one another.

RECAP:

• Content is king, thus what you write is extremely important
• King Content is outranked by the supreme Ruler - Google (or other advertisers)
• Content is king, but Promotion is Queen and she is in NO WAY to be ignored

There are different ways to successfully promote your writing, so as to drive or generate traffic to your articles. Paying attention to your article activity will help you be aware of the different kinds of traffic you are receiving. If you are planning your keywords successfully, you will begin to generate organic traffic. This is the BEST kind, because it “happens” as a result of the effective keyword content you have written.

Driven traffic, on the other hand, is a result of you taking action to do SOMETHING to say: “Hey everybody, here I am. Come read this!” It could be through commenting in the forums, submitting your articles into article directories, and even placing classified ads. Personally, for my money, I say run some classified ads to promote your writing. It has worked exceptionally well for me! As was already mentioned, organic traffic is the best kind of traffic you can have, BUT, until that organic traffic starts pouring in, you need to start driving traffic to your writing. Yes, it’s time to approach the Queen.

One great way to push or drive traffic that I have found to really work for me is classified ad posting. I endorse this method, in particularly if you use craigslist. This is one of many classified advertising sites that will allow you to post your promotional ads for free. I have had such unbelievable success with this site, that I virtually stopped the presses on all my other endeavors so I could develop a regular advertising campaign for myself. I have also used U.S. Free Ads, as well as other less popular ad networks. I suggest using the ad networks that allow you to place your ads for free, first. Then, later, if you decide to pay for advertising, you have a better ideal about what works best for your particular circumstances. This is an effective method, regardless of what writing platform you use. You can push traffic to your hub articles, blogs, or even web pages via classified ads.

I have had real success posting craigslist ads, but that is not to say this should be the primary method for YOU. The key is finding your own key, for your particular situation and individual circumstances. I’m a pretty decent typist (55-60 wpm on a good day), a fast thinker, and I love writing ad copy. I also have free time during the day or night since I don’t have a “day job” (or night job either:). So for my own particular circumstances, it’s nothing for me to regularly type 40 or 50 little ads a day. Since doing this has been working to my advantage, I continue to do it.

If you are in a different situation or mindset and posting that many ads is not doable, maybe you can type 10 ads a day or even 5 ads. Using classified ad posting to drive traffic is an effective method, and even continuity counts for a lot. If you post less ads, but post them regularly, you could still have a measure of success. If you decide to try this strategy, you’ll need to make sure your ads are detailed enough to intrigue the reader, but not enough to tell everything about the article. You want visitors to arrive anxiously at your article with some ideal of what they’ll actually find (No deceptive or shady stuff).

I’d like to thank everyone that has bothered to take the time to read this information. I hope it was useful, as well as informative. All HubPage Members (especially) are encouraged to Leave A Comment AND if you really enjoyed the information, LINK TO THIS ARTICLE. Not only will I get the benefit of all that great traffic, YOU WILL EARN EXTRA INCOME from referring to mine, and other hub member articles. Just be sure to use the URL Tracker.information every time! (The “link to this page” button below makes it convenient)